SUNY Fredonia eyes multi-year plan to raise enrollment
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SUNY Fredonia President Stephen Kolison released a plan this week to raise enrollment to more than 6,000 students, as well as eliminate a spending deficit by the 2024-25 school year.
Kolison reminded the College Council at its Wednesday meeting that declining enrollment at the school was a concern he expressed during his first meeting with them after he started his job last year. For example, while there were 1,125 graduates in 2018, there were only 917 in 2021.
"We need to address the situation, then reverse it," he said, introducing an outline of his four-year plan to do so. "We think 6,000 students is the optimal number that we need in order to also have a good financial standing."
According to a chart Kolison presented, SUNY Fredonia is expected to have 4,296 students during the 2021-22 school year. He wants that number up to 4,710 for the 2022-23 school year; 5,195 for 2023-24; and 6,003 for 2024-25.
He said he wants to add those students with help from an intense focus on promoting the campus to prospective students, not just locally or even regionally but nationwide. Kolison also plans a stepped-up effort at retaining current students and encouraging people with bachelor's degrees to attend SUNY Fredonia for graduate school.
He reported progress already on the retention front, with 77% of 2019-20 students returning for this year, compared to 70% retention from 2016-17 to 2017-18.
The increase in enrollment and in retaining students is a key part of Kolison's goal to eliminate the campus spending deficit. He also plans cost-cutting -- which he offered no details on. In addition, he is counting on an unspecified amount of government stimulus money to reach the goal.
Although his plan is a big-picture outline with few specifics, Kolison was certain that hard work and significant changes will be necessary to reach the benchmarks.
"This is going to be a lot of heavy lifting … but it is necessary," he said. "We cannot continue to have a deficit year after year."